Best itinerary to spend 36 hours in Cartagena, Colombia

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Cartagena de Indias, a colonial port city on Colombia's Caribbean coast, can be so hypnotically hot (even with the ocean breeze and occasional tropical downpour) that visitors may feel as if they are drifting through a dream world of cobblestone lanes and Afro-Colombian drumbeats — a sensation captured by the magical realism in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Cartagena-set novels. A weekend is perfect for a robust introduction through two adjacent, walkable neighborhoods. The Old Town is still surrounded by the stone walls built by Spanish colonists, who also left behind opulent mansions and churches. Neighboring Getsemani is an artsy, semi-residential enclave with a popular street-party scene, overlooked by the 16th-century fortress that looms on a hill nearby. And if the heat does get to you, order a limonada de coco, the slushy coconut limeade that keeps coastal Colombians deliciously cool.

ITINERARY

Friday
3 p.m. | Snack your way around

Kick off a visit with a walking tour through the city's connected Old Town and Getsemani neighborhoods, the triangular heart of the city between the Caribbean Sea and San Lazaro Lagoon. Several groups offer free walking tours departing from the egg-yolk-colored main gate and clock tower, called the Puerta del Reloj, the original entrance into the walled city. For a more curated experience, Cartagena Connections adapts guided tours to visitors' interests, such as architecture, history or photography (two-hour group tours start around 123,000 Colombian pesos, or $30, per person; private tour rates vary). The popular street food tour includes stops to taste wedges of salted green mango, corn arepas filled with cheese, and mamoncillo, a local lychee-like fruit.

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